the gardener & the soldier
by Therightshadeofblue
Summary: "If you were going to kill me how would you do it?" Bucky looked Rooney in the eye and without falter or consideration answered, "With my hands." Bucky/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this may look familiar but I re-edited this piece from last year and have begun writing more on it! Please let me know what you think! And for those that haven't read this before, this is a Bucky/OC story that follows Bucky and Rooney through 1943 to 2014 in an unspecific order. Please let me know what you think.**

* * *

the gardener & the soldier

* * *

 _2014_  
 _Smithsonian, Washington D.C._

Bucky stood there, confused, discoursed, and on the verge of tipping. He stared at himself, immortalized in a photograph from 1940. He couldn't comprehend what was happening to his mind, seeing this only confused him more. He read the first short paragraphs about a childhood and adolescence he knew nothing of and felt pangs of memory develop inside him like deja vu. The memories were flashes but they weren't nothing. The memories were real.

The last paragraph presented was a short bit of information on a woman named Rooney Kessler. She was reported to have been close to James Barnes around the time of his "death" in 1943. She arrived at the US camp base when Captain America saved Bucky and his unit. Not much was known about her, other than the films shot during the destruction of Hydra operations. She went MIA shortly after Bucky's death.

Next to the text was a small screen playing select footage of Rooney Kessler interacting with Bucky and Captain America. The image of the woman sparked something in Bucky mind, a painful memory of darkness and a female screaming, a man screaming with her, screams of pain, and horribly broken fingers. And her face, crying.

Bucky clutched his head, his breathing becoming ragged. He began walking out of the museum as quickly as he could without being noticed but he couldn't stop the overflow of striking images of the woman and Captain America.

Once Bucky reached an alley he threw himself against a wall and let out a haggard groan and clutched at his head with such force he knocked his hat onto the ground and pulled at his hair. Bucky tried to calm his breathing and sat crouched next to the building for several minutes. When he finally had a hold on what just happened to him, he could not rest. He had to know, he had to keep figuring things out. And he was going to start with the woman.

* * *

An hour later Bucky stumbled into a library and sat at a computer. He'd seen the machines used before, and being equipped with the basic knowledge of the times he was engrained by Hydra, he knew he'd find something.

Slowly he plucked at the keys R-o-o-n-e-y K-e-s-s-l-e-r. And what showed up was hardly anything of use. But a sudden article caught his attention at the bottom of the page.

"Rumored Sole Female of Captain America's Howling Commandos May Still Be Out There" Bucky clicked on it faster than he had time to process.

The article spoke of sightings in New York City, just sightings, no photographs. But then it began explaining various theories of where exactly Rooney Kessler could have gone after her disappearance in 1943. And these theories were supported by photographs. In 1950, Rooney was spotted in England at the first international Stark Expo, and just three years later she's spotted in Washington DC at a ten year anniversary memorial for Captain America. And at least ten other sightings, leading up into 1995, all the photos looking like they were capturing a woman at the age of 25. The photos were not vivid, but he could see she had long brown hair and it was all Bucky had to go on.

The ending theory is that Rooney Kessler is still alive, un-aged, and living in New York City. Then New York City was where he would start.

Before Bucky left the library he quickly searched for himself on the computer. And found a wikipedia page. Suddenly becoming too overwhelmed by this Bucky closed the window. But not before noticing that James Barnes' childhood home was located just outside NYC. He had no other way about it. If he found Rooney Kessler he'd have to remember. She could help him remember. It was his only hope.

Several days later Bucky was floating around small towns outside of NYC. So far nothing. Surviving became a problem. He hadn't eaten in days and he was beginning to feel the strain of running on nothing but perseverance.

In Roslyn, NY after four days of searching and asking he was finally given an answer by a grocer who talked about a quiet woman who lived just out of city limits with long brown hair. Bucky didn't know how to thank the man.

* * *

Bucky found the house easily. It was a small home, half of it encompassed by a green house, smokey glass in place of walls and ceiling. If this hadn't been the only home he'd seen in ten miles he would have dismissed it. Slowly he crept to the back and easily broke the lock to the back door and quickly slipped inside the glass plated home. There were plants everywhere. Handing from the ceiling, on shelves against the wall; the air was noticeably richer, breathable. Bucky felt himself intake a large breath.

Following the walls Bucky looked at everything he could see, anything that would give him information about Rooney. He passed a mattress on the floor with rustled bright white sheets and pillows, he found it odd there was a bed in this green house-did she sleep here?

Bucky approached an open entrance into the kitchen but a desk off in the corner caught his eye. Upon the desk he saw an open laptop but the screen was black. A nearly empty metal enamel cup with a tea bag hanging off the side sat next to the computer. He touched the rim of the mug and felt its warmth. Rooney, or someone else, must have been in that very spot recently. Bucky breathed in.

Sitting up on the desk against the wall was a bulletin board with various papers pinned around, hand-drawn illustrations of plants, layers of papers and photographs of a brunette woman with various people whom he did not recognize. They were old photographs, not new digital prints, card-stock. Bucky touched the edge of one, feeling its width, something about it recalled a familiarity within him. He peeked behind a few papers not really noticing much. But in the corner of the board Bucky froze.

There was a photo of him. His eyes widened and he was afraid to look away. It was him, the same photograph he'd seen projected at the museum. This woman owned the real photo. And just peeking out from under a piece of paper right above it was another photo with similar coloring along the edge. Bucky pushed the paper away and saw a photograph of him, and the woman. Bucky's arm was around her shoulders and he was looking at the camera while she was looking down, she seemed shy, but she was smiling. So was he.

Bucky picked the photo from the board and slid it into his jacket pocket quickly. And with the same quickness Bucky turned around and was met with a pistol aimed at his forehead.

For a moment Bucky felt his heart rate raise. But just for a moment before his guard kicked in, quickly observing his attacker. A woman, small, her hair hidden under a tan Stetson hat and her mouth and nose hidden under a scarf-a tuft of hair poked out beneath the scarf and it was brown. This was her. It had to be.

"What are you doing in my house?" She said, her voice muffled but strong, and it gave Bucky chills of reminiscence. He was so caught up in her eyes, his mind trying to pull memories from a deep place, that he didn't answer her question. "Hey! Answer me. What are doing in my house?"

Bucky didn't have an answer. The woman pulled the hammer back on her gun and Bucky's instinct triggered and he grabbed her hand, knocking the gun from her hold, and spun her around.

But the woman quickly jumped through his hold, grabbing his hands and twisting them behind his back. Suddenly though she let go, stepping back with a gasp. Bucky turned and grabbed a chunk of her hair and flung her onto the ground, and climbed over her.

For a moment the two froze, the woman's hat falling from her head and her hair spilled out on the ground. She looked at his left arm with curiosity and quickly brought her elbow up and rammed it into his cheek. Bucky fell to the side, just enough for the woman to slip out from under him.

She grabbed her gun and shot at him but Bucky dodged it and repeated the same act of grabbing her hand but rougher and the woman let out a cry and dropped it faster than she had the previous time. Bucky grabbed her coat by the lapels and brought her closer to him.

"You know me."

The woman froze and looked confused for a moment before struggling against his hold. She began wiggling and kicking at Bucky's feet with such strength he accidentally lost his balance and they both fell onto the bed, Bucky on top of her.

"Let go of me!" She yelled but Bucky pushed himself harder onto her.

"No! You know me!" He yelled back in her face and she stopped. Her eyes on his and they widened. She brought her hand up gently and removed Bucky's ball cap. His hair fell into his eyes but she still saw. Her eyes began to water.

"Bucky?"

The woman touched his face with her finger tips and Bucky felt the coldness of them. He quickly stood and she watched him.

"How are you here?"

"I…don't know." Bucky paused. "I don't remember anything."

The woman stood from the bed, watching him cautiously. "How did you find me?"

"The Smithsonian." The woman nodded, her eyes on his arm. Bucky noticed her hands shaking at her sides.

"Do you know my name?" Bucky looked at her as she began fiddling with things on her desk.

"Rooney." She froze suddenly and looked at him. His eyes narrowed.

"It's been so long since I've heard you say my name." Her eyes closed and she leaned against the edge of the desk. "Do you go by Bucky anymore?"

"I didn't know that was my name until last week."

"How did you find out?" Bucky inhaled, he should be irritated by all these questions but he wanted to her know, he felt like she needed to know everything, he just didn't know how to say it.

With disdain in his voice he said, "Captain America."

Rooney narrowed her eyes herself, she wanted to ask what happened, but she already knew.

"What was your name before?"

Bucky sat on the bed, "They called me the Winter Soldier."

Rooney nodded. Bucky knew she knew. It was almost as if she asked just for reassurance. "Is that what you call yourself?"

Bucky shook his head, "I don't call myself anything."

Rooney was quiet for a really long time. Bucky's patience thinned.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" He just shook his head slightly. "Well you picked the right person from your past to approach. Anyone else would have called the police the second they saw you and…I'm guessing you're the one that's been on the news. Everyone is looking for you, everyone important that is."

"Hydra." Bucky noticed Rooney suck in a breath and looked at him. "What is it?"

Rooney shook her head. "You're safe here. Hydra does not know this place exists."

"Are you positive?"

"Yes." She responded quickly. "So what do you remember?" She sat on the bed next to him, but not too close, Bucky noticed. She was still nervous around him, cautious, rigid, ready to fight. This confused him slightly, he was a predator to her but it seemed to go deeper than that. Her caution was not rooted in fear.

"I only remember bits. I saw you in films at the museum. Your face…I remembered so many awful things. But I knew I had to find you. I had to know how I knew you…in my past."

Rooney nodded and bit her lip. She was refraining from saying something, thinking about it. She breathed out and ran her hands through her hair.

"How far into the present to you remember?" Bucky looked confused, "Do you remember when you woke up?"

He thought for a moment, he'd never thought of that before. "No, I don't."

"I didn't think so." Rooney muttered. "I'll tell you what happened but I want you to listen to something first."

Bucky followed her into the house, into a living room where Rooney plucked a record from the shelf and placed it on a record player.

"I hope this doesn't bring back anything lethal." She joked quietly and cleared her throat. "This song is from 1939." The needle was set down slowly. A gentle guitar begins and then a soothing, deep male voice sings.

 _"If I didn't care more than words can say, If I didn't care would I feel this way? If this isn't love then why do I thrill?"_

Bucky breathed in and closed his eyes, clinching his mouth and eyes. He saw her, Rooney, on a table. A man placed machinery around her head and she began to scream.

Bucky pulled his hair and quickly looked up at Rooney. She was looking at him.

"What happened to you?" He asked her.

"The same thing that began you."


	2. Chapter 2

1943

Rooney's body ached more than it ever had before, lain on the concrete like a dead animal. She fought for breath and clutched her hands into her chest to create a cocoon of warmth for her body. She knew this would not work but she had to try.

There was a clanking of footsteps approaching the cell she was in. Rooney sucked in a breath and readied herself. Two soldiers grabbed her by her arms and drug her into another room. Just like yesterday, and the day before and the day before.

Hoisted up onto a table, Rooney's hands were bound at her sides. More than once had she gotten severely punished for trying to escape so they gave extra precaution and tightened the reins painfully around her wrists.

The small doctor came in. She did not know his name, but it didn't matter. She preferred not to know anyway.

"How are you feeling this evening, Miss Kessler?" The German man sneered.

Rooney didn't respond. She never did. She didn't know if that helped or damaged her situation, but she didn't want to find out.

"Just do it."

The doctor smiled, gesturing for the nurse to cover Rooney's eyes and to initiate the shots. First a small, single shot. Then two slightly larger needles. Then three, four, five and six, on each arm.

Every day Rooney expected her voice to go out after screaming out in pain, but every day her screams seemed to only become heavier and throated. They never went away. She never got used to the pain.

After every session Rooney would be analyzed, her weight taken, and given a heavy dose of protein. Rooney weighed 90 pounds.

The soldiers dragged Rooney back to her cage and tossed her in. She landed on her chest and she felt all the air escape from her lungs. Coughing, she struggled to sit up agains the bars.

"Are you okay?" Someone whispered behind her. Rooney flipped around as fast as she could and stared at a man in the cage next to hers.

"Who are you?" She muttered out, frightened at first, but he looked like a prisoner, like her. Messy dark hair with dirt on his face.

"My name is James." Rooney nodded.

"James…?"

"Barnes. James Buchanan Barnes." He stuck out his hand slowly through the bars. Rooney shook it with as much grip as she could muster. His hands were large, enveloping hers like they were a child's. She laughed to herself gently, the idea of being civil seemed so out of place in their situation. "What's your name?"

"Rooney Kessler." She pulled her hand back. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a sergeant of the USS, 107th. My troop got raided, taken. We were forced to work on their rockets but I got sick, so they moved me here."

Rooney felt tears consume her vision. "I'm so sorry James. I'm so sorry." She reached out and touched the top of his hand in sincerity, she knew what that meant for him.

Rooney then fell onto her back in a huff and a thud and coughed out.

"Are you okay? Rooney? Do you want me to get-"

"No!" She yelled, "If they know how I am after experimentation they'll just kill me…I have to just wait until I can't feel again."

James narrowed his eyes.

"How long have you been here?" He asked after a while.

She shook her head. "I don't know." She coughed. "What year is it?"

"1943." Rooney ran her hands through her hair and shook her head.

"I don't believe that." Bucky watched her as she tried to make sense of it. Rooney breathed in, forgetting exactly how long ago she remembered being captured. "I was captured when I came over here, from America. I came over here in 1938…but that just cannot be."

Bucky heavily swallowed, feeling sorry for Rooney and fearing what was going to happen to him. They must have done so much to her in five years, he didn't know how she was still alive.

There was suddenly two voices coming from outside the room. Rooney quickly turned to Bucky.

"Do not fight back, they will only hurt you more. Just take it. We cannot escape. Hydra is too strong." The door was opened and Rooney grabbed Bucky's hand and squeezed. His forehead cringed in preparation and he squeezed back as he was taken away.

* * *

Rooney had passed out not soon after Bucky had left. But when he came back she was awoken by his screams of pain. Rooney saw bruises on his face, his shirt open and blood smeared around the collar.

"You fought back didn't you?" She reached her hand through the bars to touch his face but he pulled back, silent, confused, and in pain. Rooney stayed against the bars looking at him. Soon enough Bucky leaned against the bars in pain. Exhaustion stained his ragged breath. Rooney touched his arm gently and Bucky placed his hand over hers. "You'll get used to this, James."

Bucky coughed and mumbled. "Bucky. My friends called me Bucky."

Rooney brought her other arm through the bars and was holding onto Bucky's other shoulder, hugging him from behind and through the bars. "Bucky…" she mumbled. "I have a feeling we're going to become very close."

Bucky smirked, just thankful he had someone else there. As did Rooney.

* * *

2014

Bucky leaned back in the kitchen chair as Rooney began to prepare food for the both of them, telling him of their first meeting. He was letting what she was just telling him sink in. Within the hour Bucky had a plate of food in front of him and Rooney sat in front of him, quieting her stories for them to eat.

"You used to love stroganoff. Your mother used to make it when you were a kid." Bucky looked at the noodles and picked at them.

"I told you that?" He took a bite. His cheek twitched and his tongue spasmed but he recognized the taste.

"You told me a lot of things." They continued to eat in silence. Rooney finished hers first while Bucky was still picking at his.

Rooney sat back in her chair after disposing of her plate in the sink. She took her scarf off her neck and Bucky noticed a faint line across the middle of her throat.

He dropped his fork with a clank and saw bright red blood in his eyes.

"Bucky?" Rooney moved from her chair and kneeled in front of him slowly. His eyes shot to her and she backed away slowly, sucking in a breath. But Bucky grabbed her shoulder with his metal arm and pulled her closer, touching her neck with his bare finger.

Bucky saw even more blood, feeling the scar.

"Who did this to you?"

Rooney's jaw clinched. "You did."


	3. Chapter 3

1984

Nick Fury was in the driver's seat of a large Jeep Heritage. Rooney Kessler sat in the back behind the passenger's seat. Rooney and Nick were the only ones that knew the truth. The both of them had just discovered Shield was being run by Hydra. And Rooney was their number one target. Enlisting Rooney as the first initiator of a secret force for Shield had been Nick's biggest mistake. They were running, but mostly Nick was trying to get her to safety.

"I'm surprised we haven't been ambushed yet." Rooney sighed, looking out the window, her hand grazing the gun on her hip. They were somewhere in the middle of North Dakota.

"They ain't gonna be able to find us. Not with this piece of shit car." Rooney smirked fully knowing the car was well equipped with a full weaponry under the seats, bullet proof windows, and an A.I. system prototype. But what Nick was referring to was the design. Both of them would've rather of not been left with a family jeep but they were a bit limited on their choices whilst their escape.

Rooney sighed. "Wanna listen to some tunes?" Nick asked. She nodded. He turned the radio on and "Ladies Night" by Kool and the Gang began playing. Rooney chuckled and so did Nick. Anything was better than the frightening silence they both faced since they left.

Suddenly Rooney noticed there was a car behind them. Nick and Rooney hadn't seen a car on the long country back road for at least two hours.

"Nick…"

"I see 'em." He breathed in. "It's probably nothing."

Rooney felt otherwise. Her stomach groaned with nervousness, she knew the feeling all too well. The feeling of being hunted. The car began speeding up after a few minutes. "Nick…"

"How much closer are they?"

"They're about fifty yards."

"Shit…" Nick muttered under his breath. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Rooney turned around and there was another car coming full speed at them. The car from behind had caught up and rammed into the back of the jeep. Rooney quickly unbuckled. "You keep your eyes on the road and I'll deal with them."

Nick nodded as he swerved from the oncoming car with impressive ease. Rooney lifted up the seats and pulled out a machine gun, a rifle, and two handguns. She tied a bandana around half of her face and slipped her hat on with the hope that she wasn't completely recognizable as the target.

She rolled the back window down and loaded the machine gun. She let half of her rounds go into the car's windshield and it spun out. The car that Nick had passed was now on their tail. Rooney unloaded the other half of the round and another. This car was dodging all the bullets.

"Fuck!" she screamed as she threw the gun inside and grabbed the shotgun and a case of bullets. With that she easily broke their windshield and targeted the two drivers. When that car spun out three other cars showed up behind. "Nick, there's three more!"

"There's four more coming this way."

"Fuck." Rooney rolled the window back up.

"What do you wanna do?"

Rooney thought for a moment. "Get off the road. And pop open the back."

Nick nodded, "Take this." He dug in his pocket quickly and handed her a grenade. Rooney nodded. "Grab somethin'!" Rooney grabbed the seat as they swerved off the road and she hopped in the back, pushing the back window open. Aiming for three of the leading cars tires she set off the machine gun and that took out three of the seven. She quickly reloaded and did the same thing, only knocking out two. A fire exploded from one of the engines and that caught one more car and flipped it upside down. Rooney smirked under her bandana.

"Now would probably be a good time to use that grenade!" Nick called from the front.

"Not yet!" She yelled, aiming the shot gun at the men leaving their exploding cars. She shot out the window of the oncoming car but that did not stop the driver. The driver seemed to figure out what she was doing. "Nick go faster!" Rooney yelled as the car sped up on them.

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"Nick look out!" The car was now shooting at Nick's window and cracking the glass. He swerved but the car followed and knocked into them sending Rooney to the other side of the car, her head hitting the glass. Rooney quickly crawled into the passengers seat with two handguns and breathed in. "Lean back."

Another shot from the enemy and it shattered the window and Rooney quickly fired from each gun in her hand, killing both passengers.

"That's all of them I think." Nick slowed to a stop and jumped out of the car. "Nick?"

He stumbled against the car, a streak of blood from his chest was left on the car.

"Shit!" Rooney ran over to him and held him up. "How many times were you shot?"

"Twice I think." Rooney nodded. There was suddenly a loud popping from the pile of exploded cars and a door was blown open. Two legs stepped out.

"Shit. Come on, get in the car." Rooney lifted Nick into the backseat of the car and grabbed two guns. She turned around and that's when she saw him.

A man, in dark leather, a mask over his face, quite like hers. As he got closer Rooney noticed his metal arm.

Everything was silent as the man began to run toward the car and Rooney stood her ground, shooting at him, but the bullets ran out very quickly. She stuffed the grenade into her back pocket and ran towards the man with a quick spiral kick to the head. She seemed to have caught him by surprise and knocked him back, but he quickly met her with an elbow to the head but Rooney caught it and twisted herself into him, and pulled him down.

The man grabbed her shirt and pulled her arm behind her back. Rooney let out a cry, feeling the immense strength of his metal arm. But she quickly kicked herself under him and ran to the other side of the car and grabbed an empty shotgun. Rooney knew bullets wouldn't do anything to this man. But she could easily use the shotgun as a weapon.

Rooney stopped in front of the man, holding the barrel at his chest. The man seemed to be slightly amused by this. Rooney smirked and flipped the gun around and held the barrel with both hands as she knocked the butt of the gun across his face. This did not falter him. Only angered.

He grabbed the gun and threw it aside while grabbing her shirt and ripping the bandana off her face and knocking the hat off her head. Rooney jumped from his hold and mimicked his same arm behind back, and kicked him into the car. His forehead hit the glass and broke it.

Rooney was suddenly kicked back and she rolled on the ground, her chest hitting a rock. She gasped out in pain and the man turned her around and picked her up by her shirt. She struggled, her hands pushing against his face and chin. He grabbed her hands in his metal hands and squeezed them tightly, making her cringe. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. Rooney looked into his eyes as well. Although much of her hair was in her face Rooney could still see his eyes. His eyes. She'd never forget those eyes. It'd been over forty years but she'd never forget.

"I know you." Slight confusion filled the man's eyes, his eyebrows narrowed. Rooney looked at his hair and the cheek bones that fitted to his black mask. The man suddenly grabbed her hair and dropped her from her shirt. He began dragging her by her hair across the field. Rooney screamed out, trying to get out of his hold but he had his metal hand gripped around a chunk of her hair.

"Please stop!" Rooney screamed, "You know me! You know me, Bucky!"

The man dropped her. He looked down at her in confusion.

"Who's Bucky?" He said from under his mask. Rooney's eyes widened, tears formed in her eyes. Then she finally noticed the red star on his metal arm. She gulped, her hand reaching into her back pocket.

"No one. Bucky's dead." The man grabbed her arm and drug her to the jeep. Rooney's body was dragged over a large rock in the ground and she quickly grabbed onto it, acting fast, she pulled Bucky back and shoved his head into the stone, knocking him unconscious. She fingered the grenade in her pocket but ran back to the jeep.

Making sure Nick was still there she started up the car and began to drive.

She'd wait for him to come back. She couldn't let Bucky die like that. Not again.

Nick handed her a piece of paper, bloodied corners where his fingers had held it.

"What's this?" Rooney grabbed the paper and read address on it.

"A friend. He doesn't life too far from here."

"A friend?" She looked in the rearview mirror at him, grasping his stomach in pain. He nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Within twenty minutes Rooney was able to find the house where Nick's friend lived.

It was difficult but Rooney managed to drag Nick's nearly conscious body to the front door and knocked quickly. A few moments later a man with long black hair held in a knot behind his head answered the door.

"You Vince?" The man's mouth was open in confusion and his eye brows were knit together.

"What the fuck?"

"Nick gave me your address, said you were a friend. Is that true?"

"Yes, but-"

"Vince, can we please come in, I need to get these bullets out of his chest before he loses any more blood." The man nodded and helped Rooney bring him. They sat him on the coffee table in the living room and Rooney ripped open his t-shirt. She slapped his face.

"Nick? Nick you awake?" He grumbled and his eyes fluttered open. "Okay good." Rooney picked through her bag and plucked a knife. "Vince can you bring me some towels and bandages?"

Vince rushed to the other room and Rooney looked at Nick. "We're gonna talk about this shit when you wake up Nick." He grumbled once more in response and finally stilled.

Vince returned with the materials and Rooney got to work.

"How did you two end up like this?" Vince asked, holding a towel to Nick's stomach.

"Shield has been infiltrated by HYDRA, Nazi science division created in the 1940s. Shield was thought to have destroyed it but it was just dormant until now, most of Shield has been run by HYDRA since then." Vince gulped. "Nick and I barely escaped from attack. He needed to get me away from HYDRA. But they found us. It was seemingly easy to get rid of them at first but a man appeared. A man who's strength is beyond my understanding. I'm a warrior but this man was a monster. I was able to knock him out and get us away but I definitely know I haven't seen the last of him."

"Shit. Where are you guys gonna go?" Rooney had finished patching Nick up quickly.

"I don't know. I need Nick awake, to find out what exactly he knows about HYDRA and this secret soldier they have." Vince nodded, looking at Nick.

"I haven't seen Fury in years. I just moved here too. I wonder how he knew where I was."

"Nick knows everything. Keeps tabs on everyone. After I met him he was always able to find me."

"What's your name?"

"Rooney."

Vince nodded and watched as she stood up. Rooney winced and leaned against the couch for support.

"You all right Rooney? Why don't you sit down?" Rooney nodded and Vince looked at a wound on her head. "That's a pretty big gash on your head, dear. You should probably lay down."

Rooney sighed and touched it. She nodded. "Just for a little bit. I need to be ready for the soldier. If he finds us, we're going to have to leave as fast as we can."

* * *

"How long has she been asleep?"

"About thirty minutes. She looked like she needed it." Nick nodded and nudged her.

"Rooney wake up." She jumped up, gun in hand as she pointed it straight at Nick's forehead. "Hey now."

She lowered the gun, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. You can never be too careful." She nodded and sat the gun on the table.

"You okay?" Rooney asked.

"Surprisingly so. I should have you around every time I get shot." Rooney smirked. "Now, time to talk about what just happened and what we're gonna do from here…I'm sure you got a good look at the man's face? Good, so you're aware of who it was."

"Nick, he had a metal arm, a Soviet insignia on his shoulder. That wasn't him." Nick looked down and breathed in.

"Rooney…It's him."

Rooney rubbed her hands on her face. "Did you know about this?" He didn't answer. "Did you know HYDRA made Bucky into a super soldier with a fucking metal arm?!" Rooney stood and began feeling her blood pressure rise.

"I didn't know it was real Rooney!" He stood up, looking down at her. "It was a myth for forty years. Some shit about a captured Howling Commando that had been experimented on like Captain America; brainwashed to work for HYDRA who gave him a mechanized arm? I didn't believe it when I read the file! But the second I saw him out there I believed it."

Rooney sat down and ran her hands through her hair, "No no no…"

"You saw him. You fought him. You tell me that soldier was not James Buchanan Barnes!"

"It was his face but that man was NOT him!" Rooney yelled at him. Nick nodded and sat down. "He didn't even recognize me, Nick."

"He must be completely brainwashed. The Winter Soldier is real."

"The Winter Soldier?"

"Codename. Bucky Barnes isn't exactly a name to strike fear into the hearts of the world's most top wanted is it?" Rooney started having a flashback to the woods, the winter. She spent hours in the cold snow trying to find Bucky after he'd fallen from the train in the mountains. "We need a plan of action."

"He wanted me, Nick. He completely surpassed you in the car and went after me. You need to leave. When he comes here, and he will come here, I will take care of it." Nick held her gaze for a while. "I will meet back up with you if I can, but I need to you alive; Shield needs you alive."

"Why do you think they want you, Rooney?" He asked sarcastically.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"You're a super soldier Rooney. They've been looking for you for years. When HYDRA experimented on you they did something different, something unattainable now and they need your DNA."

"i thought you said Bucky was a super soldier."

"I didn't say that...Rooney, you're stronger than him. They want you so they can make him stronger." Rooney sighed, her hands on her gun. "You can kill him, I'm sure of that. But do you have it in you?"

Rooney looked at Nick for a moment. "I guess we'll find out."


	4. Chapter 4

1984

Nick was packing up one of Vince's old cars in the back yard with ammo and guns from their Jeep.

"I don't like this plan."

"I don't care. You sure as hell can't go against a super soldier on a good day. You've been shot twice Nick." Rooney said, leaning against the car. Vince arrived with food and water.

"Doesn't mean I have to like this stupid ass plan." Vince smirked as he shut the door.

"I still don't care Nick. No matter what you say you are not fit to go against him. I can beat him. He's resourceful but his arm slows him down. The technology isn't finite yet and I can use that to my advantage."

Nick nodded, "Vince and I will be in Michigan by tomorrow afternoon."

"If you don't see me by the evening, keep going." Nick swallowed hard but nodded again.

"I'll see you tomorrow Rooney." He said with the highest confidence.

* * *

Rooney sat at Vince's kitchen table drinking coffee. A few lights were on in the hallway and the living room but the kitchen was dark. A streetlight let in a deep orange hue through the kitchen so when the Winter Soldier stepped into the kitchen through the hallway, Rooney spotted him instantly.

"Would you like some coffee?" He said nothing. Rooney breathed in, "Well before we get to it, I'd like to say a few things."

Bucky took three steps forward, but stopped, seemingly letting her continue. His eyes were blackened but his mask was off. Rooney felt her heart beat heavier after seeing his entire face.

"You know me, Winter-Soldier." Rooney choked out. "I don't know if you're still in there, but Bucky, please, remember me. You know me." She stood slowly and approached him, "You met me forty years ago, in Italy, locked in a cell next to mine where we were tested on." She looked at the star on his arm, "By Hydra."

Bucky looked at her, his eyes showing her nothing of acknowledgment. But his gloved hand raised up to Rooney's face.

"Bucky?" Rooney began to smile with hope. But then Bucky's hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed, lifting her up.

Rooney wiggled and kicked Bucky in the stomach and landed on her feet. Bucky growled and grabbed her arms and pushed her into the wall, denting it in. Rooney quickly grabbed the cutting board from the counter and clocked him across the face. While Bucky faltered Rooney ran towards the hallway and into the bathroom and shut the door and locked it.

Bucky slammed against the door. "Shit." Rooney muttered, holding herself against the door.

But the door didn't hold him for long and Bucky broke through and grabbed Rooney and threw her into the hallway wall.

"Quit this shit!" She yelled at him. Bucky paused. "Just take me with you. I'm tired of this Bucky. I can't do this."

"I am not taking you anywhere." Rooney narrowed her brows, "My mission is to attain Nicholas Fury and eliminate Rooney Kessler."

Rooney's eyes widened. Bucky was going to kill her to get to Nick. She sucked in a breath and grabbed Bucky by the lapels and pushed him against the wall, denting it like he had with her. Bucky's eyes shot to her, surprised as Rooney punched him across the face and made a dash toward the living room.

Bucky grabbed her by her feet and Rooney's temple caught on the edge of the coffee table.

"Fuck!" Rooney cried, blood running down the side of her face. "Bucky please!"

Bucky paused, his teeth clinched, his fist raised. "Stop calling me that."

"No. Your name is James Barnes and your friends call you Bucky. I am your friend!"

Bucky's fist came down, his breath became weighted. He looked as though he was believing her.

"Bucky please. I love you. I'll never stop. Bucky you have to remember, please. Or else you kill me and capture Fury and Hydra will reign and you will continue to live by a set of assignments, under a mind that's not your own."

"Stop!" Bucky grabbed her throat again. "I do not know you!"

Rooney gasped for air, "Yes you do!" She cried. Tears fell down her cheeks, seeing the sinister glaze over his eyes. She was his mission, he was going to complete his mission.

Rooney reached behind her to pull out the gun from her pants. She shot him in the stomach three times and Bucky fell back, grasping the wounds. This seemed to anger him but Rooney could tell it seriously hurt him.

Bucky pulled out a knife and went for Rooney but she grabbed his metal wrist and held it from her. But Bucky threw the knife to his other hand and let his wrist slip from Rooney's grasp and jumped behind her. Before Rooney could process what was happening Bucky drug the blade from one side of her neck to the other, blood gushing out. Her eyes closed.

Bucky dropped her with a thud and stood. He lingered as the blood from her neck reached the toe of his boot, pooling quickly around her still body. She didn't move. Bucky stepped back and fell to his knees on the floor next to her. He was holding onto his stomach as hard as he could but the pain he felt was unbearable and made his vision blur.

His hand dropped to the floor to steady himself but he quickly fell onto the bloodied carpet next to Rooney and passed out.

* * *

Thirty minutes later three men in back swat outfits broke through the front door.

"Clear, sir." One of them said into a radio.

A man with light red hair and a brown suit walked up the porch steps and into the living room. He tsk'd when he saw the Winter Soldier.

"Mr. Pierce, what are we going to do with the Soldier?" He bent done and touched two fingers to his neck.

"He's still alive. Let's bring him back, get those bullets out of his chest and send him back out." Two of the men nodded and picked Bucky up and walked him to their truck.

"And what about her sir, she's the one we need right?"

Alexander Pierce nodded. "I'd say bring her but she's deader than roadkill right now." He said with a disgusted look on his face. "I'll say one thing about our soldier, he gets the job done."

The men walked out the door, leaving Rooney on the floor to continue bleeding out.

* * *

Rooney's eyes flew open, her hand was on her neck and she was gargling with her severed esophagus. She stumbled into the hallway, blood trailing behind her. After slipping and slamming into the wall Rooney fell into the bathroom and turned on the faucet.

She didn't know what to do but she figured she'd better clean the wound before it caused infection. She grunted and cried as she riffled through the medicine cabinet for anything of use. The blood kept trailing through her fingers and Rooney grabbed a towel to better stop the bleeding.

Rooney stumbled out of the bathroom and into the garage. She quickly found the tackle box and rushed back into the bathroom.

Blood was dripping down her body as Rooney felt herself grow weary and lightheaded. But she quickly treaded the needle and stuck it through the opening of her neck. It stung but she kept at it. After thirty minutes the blood had stopped and Rooney tied off the wire.

She tried to speak but her throat burned with a fire she was not ready to endure. Rooney fell to the ground in pain, curling into herself.

She passed out from the blood loss.

* * *

Rooney woke up to a bright light in her eyes.

"Mr. Reynolds, she's waking up." Rooney saw Nick to her right, in a door way. She looked around the room, she was in a hospital. Her neck and throat hurt awfully.

There was a doctor there as well, with a file in his hands.

"I'll be back in an hour, Mr. Reynolds." Nick nodded and the doctor left.

"Mr. Reynolds?" Rooney smirked.

"What the fuck happened Rooney?"

She breathed in, "He came and I couldn't beat him, I shot him though, three times…How did I survive?"

"I had a bad feeling about leaving you back there so I left Vince in Michigan and came back for you. Found you in the bathroom lyin' on the floor covered in blood with your neck stitched with fucking fishing wire." Rooney looked at Nick with confusion.

"I just remember him holding the knife to my throat…" Rooney thought for a moment, "Nick he was starting to remember me."

"Rooney-"

"No Nick, I saw it. I saw it in his eyes, Nick."

"Rooney the Winter Soldier is a Hydra weapon who tried to murder you in cold blood, not your 1940s sweetheart."

Rooney struggled to sit up and turned to look at Nick.

"So you brought me to a hospital? You realize the both of us are sitting fucking ducks like this?"

"I'm leaving soon. And besides, the Winter Soldier thinks he's killed you. Hydra thinks you're dead. Best take advantage of that." He eyed her.

"Where are you going?"

"New York." Other than Los Angeles Rooney had a home outside of NYC.

"I'll see you soon then. What are you going to do about Shield?"

"I'll figure something out." Rooney nodded and watched Nick pick up his bag. He pulled out a plastic bag with a knife in it, coated in dried blood. "Found this in the living room. Figured you'd want it."

Rooney blinked as Nick tossed it onto the bed next to her legs.

"Thank you."

"I'll see you soon Rooney."

She nodded, her throat becoming dry. Nick smirked gently and walked toward the door.

"Nick?" He paused and turned to look at her. "When this is all over we'll have a beer and celebrate."

"When this is all over?" He laughed, "Don't count on having that beer until the next century."

Nick smirked as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

Rooney held a compact mirror in her hands, observing the stitches along her throat. Twenty-two stitches. How she had survived nearly being beheaded was some type of mystery. It doesn't make sense that the Winter Soldier would fumble like that, she figured it'd have something to do with what happened to her in the 40s.

As Rooney continued to look at herself in the mirror there was a knock on the door and then it opened and the doctor appeared.

"Hello there, Miss Lawrence." Rooney smiled, noting to herself of the name Nick had chosen for her cover. "How are you feeling?"

"Well."

The doctor raised his eyebrows, "Well you have to be the fastest recovering patient I've ever treated, we just got you this morning." He shook his head, looking through her file, "At this rate you'll be able to leave in just a couple days."

Rooney smiled, "Thank you, doctor."

He nodded, "Rest and I'll have a nurse come in a few hours to start your breathing treatments." Rooney closed her eyes and smiled gently, but she suddenly tensed, feeling cold. The doctor left and Rooney watched him go.

"Would you like for me to close the door?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, thank you." She said, watching the doorway intensely. When the door shut, she saw what was the cause of her suddenly discomfort. The Winter Soldier.

"Here to "eliminate" me again?" Bucky said nothing, just stood in the corner. Rooney suddenly grew nervous, chills creeped through her whole body. Nick couldn't have been too far. Her fears rose when she figured he could have already gotten Nick and came back for her.

It was beginning to grow dark and the yellow lights from the ceiling hardly illuminated him. Rooney felt her neck grow sore and she rubbed it gently, taking her eyes off of him. If he was going to kill her he would have done it already.

Bucky walked closer and picked something up off a small stand by her hospital bed. Rooney felt chilled plastic being rested on the back of her neck. Bucky had placed an ice pack on her neck.

Rooney's head shot up and she looked at him.

"That should help." He said.

Rooney couldn't wrap her head around what was happening.

"Why are you here?" She choked out.

"I am not here to kill you."

"I didn't ask why you aren't here I asked why you're here."

"You are dead." He said simply.

Rooney looked down and back at him, "No I'm not."

"To HYDRA you are." She nodded slowly.

"You told them I was dead before you found me here."

"How are you alive?" Rooney stared at her hands, remembering how many times she shot him.

"How are you alive?" Bucky watched her for several moments, thinking. "Why are you here?"

"I can't kill you."

"Why not?"

"Because you will not die." Rooney nodded in agreement.

"You want to know why?"

"No. I want to know if what you told me was the truth, or just lies."

Rooney was silent for several moments. "I didn't lie Bucky. I was experimented on. Like you. With you. But we were rescued and things seemed relatively normal, as far as life during the war can be. But then you went missing in action. I searched for you the second I found out but someone had taken you, I saw so much blood in the snow. I wish you could remember me, but the fucking KGB or HYDRA, or whatever took you, stole those memories from you. I thought you were dead, then you show up forty years later and the only reason you know my name is because HYDRA told you to kill me."

Bucky looked at her neck.

"What was our relationship?"

Rooney looked at him curiously. Her throat was hoarse from speaking for so long but she had to keep Bucky going on the conversation.

"We loved each other." His eyes narrowed and his jaws clinched, as though he was trying to figure out what that meant. Whether he was trying to understand how they loved each other or what love meant, Rooney did not know. "Do you believe me?"

Bucky backed away, his metal hand clinched.

"I can't." Rooney figured as such.

"Well, I just hope that they don't wipe you before you get someone else's opinion on the matter." He glanced at her and Rooney saw what she thought was a glimmer of pain, of confusion. "I'm sorry." She said, not expecting any sort of apology. "I'm sorry I didn't search hard enough for you. I searched for weeks, months in the snow. All I found was your tags. Now here you are and you don't even recognize me." Rooney felt tears in her eyes and her vision blurred. "I'm sorry."

She looked up after she rubbed her eyes clean of all the salty tears and he was gone. A few more tears fell down as Rooney leaned back into her pillow and curled into a ball.


	5. Chapter 5

2014

Bucky couldn't believe all the things he was hearing. He knew he was a monster but to cut open a woman's neck, no mercy, made him sick to his stomach. He didn't know how to apologize to her. And if they'd had the relationship that Rooney did speak of, he wish he could feel that for her again, to make up for the horrid things he'd done to her.

They were sitting on the bed in her green house. The sheets were white and soft under Bucky's hand. A softness he felt he didn't deserve to feel. Just like Rooney's softness towards him. Bucky had nearly killed her, in one of the most gruesome and sick ways to kill someone. He didn't know why she would still look at him.

"It doesn't make much sense, does it?" She said, looking at the knife in her hands.

If what Rooney had told him about how he was starting to remember her, or at least believe her, right before he slit her throat, there had to be something inside of him that went easy on the pressure of the knife. It didn't make sense to him, knowing full well his determination as an assassin was unwavering.

"I don't think I wanted to kill you that way."

"You remember that?" Bucky shifted his shoulders, unsure if what he was thinking was memories or just assumption.

"I just don't think I would kill you that way. I don't think I…would use a knife on you?" He said it like a question but Rooney knew there was thought behind what he said.

"If you were going to kill me then, how would you do it?" Bucky looked Rooney in the eye and without falter or consideration answered:

"With my hands."

Rooney sat silent for a moment. She looked afraid, but only slightly. Bucky recognized that look in her eyes. The widening of the eyelids, dilation of the pupils. Almost every person he'd slain, close enough to observe, had the same look within them. But with Rooney it was only for a moment. Something inside of her turned and she smiled gently.

"I'd hope so. 'Cause you're shit with a knife." Bucky chuckled, surprised at the lightness of her statement. He hadn't smiled in a while. "It's so good to see that." Rooney touched the side of Bucky's face, "That smile. It looks better on you than despondence."

"You too." He said, without thinking. Rooney narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Bucky looked at Rooney and looked at the ground then back at her.

"I…I don't know." He felt a pang in his stomach that sent a small ache to his head. Something frightened him and seeing Rooney smile brought the feeling.

"I want to tell you something, Bucky." He looked at her expectantly and she began.

* * *

1943

Rooney was strapped to the table, two needles were injected into either arm, filled with a blue liquid. Whatever they injected her with hurt more than anything they'd sent into her blood stream before. Rooney felt her insides pulsate, she felt the blood rush through her veins, everything burned. She started screaming out of pure shock and pain.

"Please stop it, take it out! Please!" Rooney cried but two more needles were plunged into her arms. She began to sweat profusely and she felt like her entire body was steaming.

Rooney's skin began to release a thick mist, as though her entire body was smoking. The doctors backed slowly away as Dr. Zola was called into the room.

When he entered Rooney saw a sick smile on his face.

"Leave her to rest. In an hour, come back and repeat the procedure. For now we work on the other patient."

"No…" Rooney started to cry, her body so sore from the injections she barely had the energy to do so. They were going to do the same thing to Bucky.

The men left Rooney the dark room as she skin still steamed. She struggled against her reins and felt them loosen. She lifted her head up and forced her arms up and she easily lifted the rope straps off her body.

Rooney struggled to sit up and ended up tumbling onto the floor in a heap. She expected her body to hurt but she felt nothing but the texture of the concrete floor. Slowly she stood and walked to the door.

Locked.

Rooney looked around the room quickly and saw a file box on a desk in the corner. She rushed over to it and saw her name at the top of the folders. Rooney quickly grabbed as many as she could and stuffed them into a leather bag she found on the floor.

Suddenly she heard gun fire, the sound was so loud she fell to the ground in defense, but the more she listened she figured it was clearly outside the facility. She had to hurry.

Rooney saw a gun hanging on the wall and three knives placed under the operating table she had just laid on. She grabbed those quickly and ran so fast to the door she didn't have time to stop and slammed right into the door, making it cave in and fly off it's hinges.

Rooney let out a cough at the sudden lose of breath and looked around, shocked.

"What the fuck is going on with me?" Rooney rolled off of the door and onto her bare feet. "Bucky?!" She yelled, stumbling through the hallway. She was lost in a maze of hallways, confused at the lack of HYDRA soldiers roaming the halls, but thankful.

She searched several rooms, all empty.

"Bucky where are you?!" Rooney scrambled around a corner and ran into a soldier. He brought his gun to her head but Rooney quickly grabbed it out of reflex and smashed his head in with the butt of it. The man fell to the ground and Rooney paused for several moments, holding the weapon in her hands.

There was a loud explosion that brought her out of her head and she quickly ran toward it. Though she did the same thing she had before and ran straight into the wall at the end of the hallway.

"Shit." She laughed and got back on her feet quickly.

"What was that?" She heard someone say and she ran towards it.

Rooney spotted Bucky and a man with shield with stars and stripes on it.

"Rooney!" Bucky yelled and ran toward her.

Rooney fell into him, "Are you okay?"

Bucky laughed, "Yeah I'm okay, why is your skin smoking?" He asked in disbelief.

"I don't know." Another explosion sounded, "We need to go, here."

She tossed the gun into his hands. "Steve this is Rooney, Rooney Steve." Rooney nodded.

"I've heard a lot about you." She smiled, "I thought you said he was shorter than I was?"

"I thought so too." Steve pulled both of them toward the main room as another explosion shook the structure.

* * *

They had escaped, all from the help of Bucky's best friend. Currently they were walking back to the camp. Rooney kept close to Bucky, who looked to side every other minute to see if she was still there.

"Do you know why you were smokin' back there?"

Rooney shook her head, but kept silent. She was still trying to figure out why she felt so strange.

Within the hour they were back at the camp. Everyone congratulated Captain America and Rooney escaped to the medic tent.

* * *

Bucky walked into the medic tent. "There you are." He said, smiling at Rooney gently. She smiled at him sadly. A doctor held a stethoscope to her heart and had his eyes on a pocket watch. Bucky sat next to her on the bed.

"Well I don't know how but your resting heart rate is 250 beats per minute." Bucky eyes widened. "Other than that you're perfect."

"But-" Rooney cut him off.

"Thank you, doctor." She pulled him out of the tent quickly.

"What the hell, Rooney? You're not okay."

"If I tell them what happened with me, or with you, imagine what they'll do to us." Bucky was silent. "We just need to rest. You need to rest, you look like you got hit by a truck." Rooney touched his cheek and Bucky smirked.

"Come on, there's an extra bed in my tent." Rooney followed him back to his tent and sat on his bed.

"Why do you get you own tent?"

"Sergeant." Rooney raised an eyebrow but smiled.

"I didn't know." She said.

"Now you do." Bucky took his sweater off quickly and dug through an old bag. Rooney looked down, embarrassed that she saw his bare chest.

"When they injected me that last time, it was different Bucky. The liquid was blue and when it entered my blood stream I felt so different. It hurt so bad." Bucky sat in front of her on the ground and touched her bare feet. "I was so hot, I felt I might explode."

"Your body was steaming Rooney."

"I know…and I feel unlike myself. I feel different than I usually do."

"Different how?" She shook her head.

"I feel powerful. Strong." Bucky smirked.

"I'll have to challenge you to an arm wrestle soon." Rooney smirked.

"Knock knock." A voice from outside chimed. Steve poked him head in.

"Hey Steve." He walked in and sat on the bed opposite Rooney.

"Hey Buck-Miss Rooney. Agent Carter, Peggy Carter said she'd like a few words with you, woman to woman I guess."

Rooney smirked. "Tell her I'll be there soon."

"I will. Buck, tonight we're going to this hotel bar to make task force, you in?"

Bucky thought about it for a moment, "I'll be there."

Steve nodded, "See you then." He left and Bucky looked at Rooney expectantly.

"What?"

He smiled and moved toward her. Rooney grew a smile as Bucky's face stopped an inch from hers.

She breathed out and touched his cheek. Bucky closed his eyes and breathed in.

"I'll see you at the bar?"

"You might see me."

He smiled and opened his eyes. "You're hard to miss Rooney."

"You'll just have to find me then, sergeant."

"I'm not too worried about that." He said, growing antsy after she called him sergeant.

"Give me an hour with Peggy. See if you recognize me then."


	6. Chapter 6

1943

Bucky spotted her before any other man in the hotel bar had, walking down those steps like she owned them. Some of the men she passed quieted and Rooney stopped when she heard Bucky.

"Found you." He said. Rooney turned and smirked. Steve smiled next to Bucky and walked to the bar.

"Hello."

"You look…"

"I know. All I did was take a shower though." Bucky smiled, looking at her lips, "I see you took one too." She touched his cheek gently.

"I gotta say, I'm gonna miss that cute layer of dirt on these cheeks." He touched her cheek and smiled, "But I think I'll get over it."

Rooney's eyes fell to the floor, a rosey blush slipped across her cheeks.

"So what's your plan?" Rooney looked at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well you're not in the army, so you're not tied here. Where are you going to go when you leave this place?"

Rooney stepped closer to him, "If you think that I'm going to just leave Europe without having part in the destruction of Hydra, then you're dumber than I thought, Sergeant Barnes." She smiled, and stepped closer to him, "And if you think that I'm leaving this country before having spent at least one night with you, then you certainly aren't the same man I met three months ago." Bucky's eyes widened and he grabbed her hand gently.

"Well what are we waitin' for then?"

Bucky led Rooney back to the camp quickly. She laughed at his rushing. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

After kissing him quickly he smiled cheekily, his lips retaining a bit of her lipstick and they kept going.

Soon they reached the tent and Bucky quickly zipped the door closed.

"You're so beautiful, Rooney." He touched her hair and her cheek. His fingers lingered on her collarbone, fingering the fabric of her dress. Rooney touched his cheek and Bucky looked down at her lips.

"I'm staying with you Bucky. You mean so much to me, even in our short acquaintance...I'm not about to drop any chance I have with you." Bucky pulled her to his cot and they laid together.

"I don't want you to leave. I never want you to leave." Rooney held his face in her hands and kissed him gently.

"I'm staying, Bucky." He smiled and kissed her again. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her tightly into him. "Sergeant, I have something very important to tell you." Rooney snuggled into him as she spoke and unbuttoned his shirt slowly.

"Oh?" Bucky's pants began to grow tighter.

Rooney breathed in and smiled gently. "I love you."

Bucky smiled widely and kissed her hard, his hands traveling up her legs and under her dress.

"I love you too Rooney."

* * *

2014

What frightened Bucky was how attracted he felt to Rooney, even in the past hour he realized. She told him about how they touched each other for the first time after they'd been rescued, how amazing it was. Bucky found himself looking at her arms, and her legs, her neck and feeling something in the pit of his stomach, like the pang but closer. He felt like he was remembering.

"Rooney?" He asked. She looked at him, strings of hair in her face. "I think I'm remembering…some things." Her eyes widened and she sat in front of him.

"Can you tell me?"

"I remember the moment you spoke of, earlier." He wanted to touch her cheek, for some reason he didn't know. Rooney was so beautiful to him then just as Bucky was beginning to realize now. He touched her neck where her scar was. "I'm so sorry Rooney."

She held her hand around his. "It doesn't matter Bucky."

He nodded, knowing there was nothing he could do about it. "If I could take it back, I would. Out of all the people I killed I regret this the most." Rooney looked sad, her eyes shifted downward.

"Bucky."

She looked up at him. "All the people I killed, I hurt you the most."

"You couldn't help it." She said. "If it wasn't for them wiping your memory after every mission you could have, but they controlled you, you knew no other way." Bucky nodded.

"I was beginning to remember, with you. When I was sent to kill you I knew that name. And you were telling me about how you loved me, how you never stopped and I felt…real, for just a moment, then nothing. I don't remember harming you. I just remember leaving. I'm so sorry Rooney." Bucky stood, pacing in front of the fireplace. Rooney sighed, unsure of what to do. She was terrified of him, still. But she kept seeing little bits of Bucky come out, just the smallest bits of him when he apologized.

"Stop it. I know Bucky. I know." She stood and approached him. He looked at her, clinching his jaw. Rooney rested her hand on the forearm of his flesh arm. Bucky shivered under her touch, his hand wrapping around her arm as well. After several moments Bucky slowly wrapped his arms around her torso.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know who I am." He muffled into her shoulder, holding her tightly.

"Isn't that why you came here?" She whispered into his ear and a shiver ran down his spine. He squeezed her tighter and rested his forehead in her neck, breathing in how she smelled. She smelled like dirt, and plants and something else that he couldn't explain, but the same scent he recalled from long ago.

Rooney and Bucky sat there, in each other's arms for quite some time.

Bucky slowly let her go, realizing she was standing on her tip toes. He rubbed his face and struggled out a deep breath.

"You can stay here for as long as you need." Rooney spoke, noticing the sun was setting.

* * *

Please let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

1943

Bucky gently woke to an empty cot. He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, exhausted. He and Rooney had stayed up very late with each other. He smiled remembering it. While he yawned he suddenly caught sight of a back appearing and reappearing at the foot of the bed. He leaned up and saw Rooney doing push-ups, faster than he had ever done.

He chuckled, "What are you doing?" Rooney looked up at him and smirked.

"I couldn't sleep. I had so much energy last night when you went to sleep, I had to work it out some how."

"How long you been doin' those?"

"Not very long. But before I did some jumping jacks and set-ups and crunches." His eyes widened.

"Why don't you go for a run?"

"Want to come with me?"

Bucky shook his head. "I'm exhausted. I don't even know how you're awake right now, the things we did last night." Rooney stopped and crawled over to him. She hopped up on the bed and straddled him. Bucky smiled lazily.

"I'll never forget last night."

"Oh, me either." He smiled and kissed her. Rooney kissed him back and rolled off of him.

"I'm going to get breakfast. Did you want to come?" Bucky shook his head.

"I'm gonna get a bit more sleep. But I'll see you out there." Rooney nodded and slipped on her thin coat. "Rooney?"

She turned at the door, "Hmm?"

"You feeling okay?"

She narrowed her eyes, confused. "I feel fine, Bucky. Go back to sleep." He smiled gently and Rooney walked out of the tent.

At the moment Rooney felt a cold breeze hit her cheeks she felt different. She felt…strange. Rooney walked to the table with breakfast, if it could be called that. She got a plateful of grits and toast.

She pushed the grits around with her fork, feeling uneasy and warm, like her blood was simmering. She felt hot, even though the temperature was nearing freezing and there was snow on the ground. Her hands began shaking and she felt like she had to move, do something. But she didn't know what, so she sat there, looking at the table, shuffling the snow under her shoes.

"Hey sweet thing." She heard behind her. She made no move to turn to the addresser. "Why don't you come down to my tent tonight and give me some of what you gave the serg last night?"

When the man caressed her shoulder tightly Rooney flinched, grabbing her fork and stabbed his hand. She stood and rammed his head into the table as hard and as many times as she could before she felt two arms pull her back quickly.

"Get off of me." Rooney yanked herself back to see Steve looking extremely confused and worried but he put up his arms.

Rooney suddenly breathed out and looked back at the man that had touched her, now on the ground in the fetal position clutching his hand. Her heart began to palpitate rapidly, her body was flooded with heat. Rooney pushed past Steve and ran into the woods as fast as she could.

* * *

Bucky walked out of his tent, slipping his jacket on. He noticed a lot of commotion going on and ran over to Steve.

"Steve, what happened?" Bucky looked at one of the soldiers cradling a bloody hand. Steve turned to him.

"Rooney." Bucky narrowed his eyes.

"What did he say to her?" He asked pointedly, knowing Rooney was gentle-volatile sometimes maybe, but he knew she had to have been provoked to cause so much damage.

"I don't know."

Bucky looked back at the man and clinched his jaw.

Suddenly there was a loud screech coming from the woods where Rooney ran to. Bucky and Steve looked at each other for a moment and both began sprinting toward the sound.

Bucky ran as fast as he could, a knot in his stomach. Steve was a good three yards in front of him the entire way and he spotted Rooney first. She was on her knees slamming her fists into the ice, bloody knuckles rising up and down.

Steve ran for her and tried to stop her from harming herself but she quickly punched him in the face and backed away.

"Rooney?" She looked at him and her eyes widened. She breathed out and saw he was clutching his face. Rooney ran to him and Steve enveloped her in his arms.

"Oh my god Steve I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay - it's okay." Steve looked at her and noticed her eyes were glossy and her cheeks were bright red.

"Rooney?!" Bucky ran to them and Rooney jumped from Steve to Bucky's arms in a second.

Rooney clutched his jacket lapels and looked him in the eye. "Bucky I don't know what happening to me."

Steve watched them, happy that she wasn't completely crazy. But suddenly something caught his attention.

"Buck...?"

Bucky looked at Steve in question but suddenly noticed the same thing he was referring to. Rooney was releasing steam like she had the day they escaped the HYDRA camp.

"Rooney are you okay?" Her eyes her cloudy and she grimaced in pain. "Rooney?"

"Bucky I'm so hot, I can't stand anymore, I'm so..." Rooney slipped from his hold but Bucky caught her before she fell to the ground. Steve helped him sit her up against a tree. "Bucky I'm so...so hot..." She breathed out, feeling her throat begin to constrict.

Bucky looked around quickly and picked up a clump of snow. He hesitantly placed it on her neck, she groaned out but the steam coming from her body began to dissipate where ever he placed the snow.

"Is this helping?" Rooney nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes it is...I feel like I'm burning up from the inside..."

Steve picked up a clump of snow as well and placed it on her arm. It melted almost immediately.

"Buck, I'm gonna go into town and get ice, this snow is melting too fast."

Bucky nodded, "Thank you, Steve." He watched Steve start to sprint back through the woods and he brought his attention back to Rooney. He picked up a chunk of snow and placed it on her chest. Rooney sucked in a breath as the water dripped down her breasts.

"Bucky what's happening to me?" He shook his head.

"I don't know, doll. But I'm going to stop it." Rooney's smirk was almost lost in her grimace but Bucky saw it and smiled. His hands started to grow numb after holding all the snow but he kept at it.

Bucky suddenly felt Rooney's heart beat and his eyes widened. "Rooney your heart feels like it's vibrating." She closed her eyes and breathed in heavily.

"I know. It's all I can hear in my ears." Bucky displayed a pained look on his face, he was so worried about her, and he had no idea what was going on.

Bucky kissed her forehead gently as Steve ran up to them with a bucket of ice. They both sighed in relief. Bucky pulled his sleeve over his hand and grabbed a chunk of ice and placed it on her forehead where he had previously kissed.

"You should try eating some of the smaller ice chips, I think it'll help you cool down." Steve held one up to her and she nodded, taking it in her hand. The second she placed it in her mouth she sighed deeply. She could feel the cold water rushing down her throat. "Feeling any better?"

Rooney nodded, "Thank you so much Steve," she grabbed Bucky's hand, "thank you Bucky."

Bucky smiled. The steam was quickly fading from Rooney's skin as she continued to ingest the ice chips, which was a huge relief to both Bucky and Steve.

"I'm feeling better, thank you so much." Bucky pushed the hair out of her face.

"Do you think you can walk?" He asked. She shuffled against the tree but was eventually able to stand. Bucky pulled her arm around his shoulder and Steve handed her another ice chip. "You'll probably want to lay down when we get back to camp."

Rooney groaned. "Ugh...camp..." Bucky suspected she was nervous about entering the camp again.

"Hey, on the bright side, I think you've made every man back there completely terrified of you." Steve chuckled, handing her another ice chip. Rooney smirked.

"They better be." Bucky chuckled as he gripped her waist gently. Rooney was still radiating heat and if it wasn't 20 degrees out he'd hate it. She was acting as his own personal fire place.

When they entered camp Bucky took her straight to his tent, with a few glances from the soldiers, and laid her on the bed. She was still munching on ice but not as quickly, she seemed to be cooling down.

She sighed, "I hurt him really bad Buck..."

"What did he say to you?"

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter...he was just an asshole but he didn't deserve what I did to him."

"Well you did shove a fork through his hand and gave him a pretty severe concussion..."

"See? Why did I do that? What's wrong with me Bucky?" He shook his head, kneeling beside her.

"They did something to you, Rooney, something they didn't do to me..."

They sat in silence for a short time before Rooney spoke slowly.

"Bucky...I think the doctors were trying to imitate what they did to Steve...and they tested it out on me...after they injected me that last time they said they were going to inject you as well, but then Steve came and stopped them." Bucky rubbed his face and sat down on the ground.

"You're not any bigger though?"

"Well they couldn't get everything exact...I'm sure Steve doesn't steam from his skin either." Bucky nodded, shock effecting his entire body.

How could they? How could those horrible people do such a thing to such a gentle woman? It angered him to his core. He wished they had done it on him first instead, so Rooney wouldn't have to deal with these side effects.

"Do you feel any stronger?"

"I do actually, it's quite strange...I feel energetic but exhausted at the same time." Bucky nodded, suddenly a thought came into his head.


	8. Chapter 8

"No. Absolutely not." Steve shook his head as Bucky's brow creased.

"But Steve you saw her, she is just as strong as you."

Steve shook his head again but continued to listen. "Hydra tried to imitate what Erskin did to you with Rooney. And with a few side effects I think they succeeded."

"We don't even know this girl Buck..."

"I know her." He shot back. Steve and Bucky shared eye contact for several moments. Bucky was clinching his jaw, he knew this had to happen, this would be good for Rooney. "She survived HYDRA experimentation for five years Steve, if there's anyone with the motivation for revenge, it's her...please, for me Steve?"

Steve thought for a long time. "...Can she shoot?"

Bucky thought for a moment. He honestly didn't know if she could, he'd never seen her with a gun.

"I can shoot." They both heard from around the corner. Rooney slowly stepped up to them. "But I'm better with hand to hand combat, I can be your man on the ground-so to speak."

Steve sighed, looking down. "You really want to risk your life for your country?"

Rooney nodded slowly, "I was held in captivity for five years, starved, tortured, and experimented on. I am not leaving this war until every last standing HYDRA agent is ripped to shreds...if you don't want me to accompany you, fine. I will do it myself." Rooney walked away quickly. Steve looked at Bucky and sighed.

"Fine. She's in." Bucky smiled, "For now. I don't want her death on my conscious Buck. She messes up, endangers herself or one of us, she's out." Bucky's smile faltered slightly but he nodded.

Bucky started to walk away but Steve grabbed his arm, "You really like this girl Buck?"

Bucky smiled, walking back up to him. "You know we spent three months together in that place and at first I thought it was just because we were the only ones but she's just..."

"She's beautiful." Steve smirked.

Bucky breathed out, "Yeah she is, even when she was covered in dirt and grime she was the prettiest dame I'd ever seen. And she's so smart, and optimistic. Even when we were held captive she always talked about what we'd do when we got out."

Steve smiled. He was genuinely happy that his best friend had found someone. Especially during the war. But he was one to talk, he found someone too.

* * *

Bucky unzipped his tent and walked in to see Rooney sitting on his cot with a book in her hands. He smiled gently, watching her. After a moment she looked up at him and smiled. Bucky smiled brightly and approached her. Rooney stood, setting her book down.

"Steve gave you the go ahead, you're coming with us on our next mission." Rooney smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Bucky hugged her close to him. He kissed her neck gently and she shivered under his lips.

"Bucky..." She moaned quietly and he smiled.

* * *

2014

Bucky sat on the toilet, steam from the shower still floating around him, his hands clutched in fists, unable to focus. All the things he learned from the day with Rooney was flashing through his mind. Everything he'd done, everything she'd done, their lives clashed in the strangest of ways. First in love, then in murder and then in confusion. Bucky felt awful. He hated himself even more than he did at the beginning of the day. But he came here to learn about his past. He just wasn't aware that it was so awful.

Bucky suddenly heard Rooney's bedroom door open and her bare feet tapped against the hardwood down the stairs.

Out of sheer curiosity Bucky stood and exited the room to follow her downstairs. Rooney lit a candle and jumped when she spotted him at the foot of the stairs.

"Sorry." She shook her head.

"It's okay."

Bucky watched Rooney from the couch as she lit the logs in the fireplace. She said it got cold in the night but Bucky couldn't feel anything. He could see the small traces of tire on her face, a familiar feeling he shared. Rooney said she got tired easily and cold, so very cold.

"I went to the hospital once, back in the sixties. I was so cold, I didn't know what to do. My temperature was 90, I thought the nurse was going to have a heart attack." Rooney smirked, settling on the ground in front of the couch. The fire flickered reds and oranges on her face. Bucky soon felt the warmth of the fire tinge on him like mist.

"Rooney?"

"Hmm?" She mumbled, staring at the fire. He moved slowly to sit next to her, he felt the Persian rug between his fingers. "What is it?" She asked, eying him. He knew she didn't trust him. Why should she? He tried to kill her thirty years ago, and had nearly succeeded.

"I hope I am not…making you too nervous or…scared…"

Rooney turned fully toward him and blinked, a soft smile tinted her lips.

"No. You aren't. Don't worry about that." Bucky nodded and looked at the fire as she turned her body back. She eventually pulled her knees up to her chest, getting herself comfortable. They sat there for thirty minutes, in silence, watching the fire.

Rooney looked at Bucky, his eyes drooped with fatigue.

"Bucky?" He didn't say anything. "When was the last time you slept?"

He shrugged slightly. "I don't remember."

She nodded, "Come on, you need to sleep."

Bucky followed her to the room. It was small but seemed large since it just held a bed and a few hanging watercolors of plants decorating the walls.

"I am right across the hall, so if something happens just come in, okay?" Bucky nodded and sat on the bed. "Do you have clothes, or is that it?"

"This is all I have." He told her. She nodded.

"Tomorrow I'll go into the city to get you some things." Bucky watched her walk out the door, and averted his eyes to the floor when she glanced back into the room. "I kept all my research about you in that desk." She pointed at the small wooden desk against the wall. "Feel free to go through it. There isn't much but I have everything prior to your disappearance in the war."

Rooney closed the door behind her.

* * *

The next morning

Bucky woke to a bright yellow beam of sunlight shining on his pillow. The clock on the wall ticked deeply. 11:30. Bucky had slept eight hours, no wonder he was completely dazed.

He stood up from the bed slowly and stalked toward the restroom. He ran the tap and splashed cold water on his face, not daring to look at himself in the mirror. Bucky sighed and slowly sat on the cold tile of the floor.

His sleep was dreamless but he felt an immense weight on his shoulders. Of course he was anxious about HYDRA but for some reason he completely trusted Rooney and her impenetrable home. It was easy for him to find the place but he knew at this point Hydra couldn't afford to have foot soldiers searching for him. For all they knew he was dead, perished beneath one of the hellicarriers.

The weight he felt consisted of Rooney and his past. He felt like he was looking through a foggy window out into a pasture of his life before the winter soldier, before Hydra - his life with Rooney and Steve. And with each story she told him the less foggy the window seemed.

Bucky breathed in, looking down at his metal arm. He clinched and opened his fist slowly. He wasn't scared or disgusted by his arm, not at all. Without it he wouldn't be alive. What really upset him was the red soviet star on his shoulder. He would have to remember to ask Rooney if she could help him remove it.

Bucky perked his ears to listen to his surroundings. After several moments he gave up, unable to hear Rooney. He stood up and walked out of the room. He slowly walked down the steps into the living room. Rooney was no where in sight.

Suddenly he heard water running in the green house past the kitchen. Bucky followed the noise and walked through the rows of plants before he saw Rooney sitting on a stool at her desk, her back to him. He slowly approached her.

Rooney quickly turned around with a knife in her hands but Bucky quickly caught her wrist as the blade was centimeters from his temple.

"Shit, sorry Bucky." He let go of her hand and he nodded. "Let yourself be known next time please? I'd hate to accidentally kill you."

"I'd never let that happen." Rooney looked up at him for a moment and smirked. Bucky's lips turned up ever so slightly as he looked down at the book in her hands. He noticed there was a lot of writing and photographs glued to the pages. Rooney turned it toward him. "What is this?"

"You could call it a scrap book...I started collecting photographs since you went missing. I stopped updating it in the sixties though. But I figured it'd be a good resource for you." Bucky pulled up an extra stool and flipped the book to the front page. He saw photos of himself and Steve, a lot of photos of him and Rooney together. He remember that one photo from her desk the morning before, but this book held all the rest. After three pages though the photos of him and Steve stopped and photos of landscapes and oceans filled the pages. Then there was a page filled with photographs of a small girl with dark brown hair, with only the writing "O" at the top. The photos started of the girl as a toddler and stopped at age 9. Bucky looked up at Rooney. "Who is this?"

Rooney looked at the page he was on and sucked in a breath. "That's Olive. She was born in 1944..."

"Is she your...?" She nodded. "Does that mean..." Rooney nodded again, a distant look in her eye.

"This last photo here," she pointed to the photo of the girl labelled 'Age 9', "is the last photo ever taken of her. She died of polio in 1954, one year before the vaccine was invented." She breathed out. Bucky's hand rested over his nose and mouth, taking it in. He felt an immense sadness in him, similar to the sadness he felt when he learned about his attempt to murder Rooney. Where was he Rooney was caring for this young child? Working for hydra and the KGB beginning the Cold War.

"I wished I could have been there for you...for her."

"It's okay, Bucky, honestly." She rested her hand on his metal hand. "Olive was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me after I lost you. But when I lost her, the reality of having lost you really set in...it seems like so long ago..."

She looked fondly at the photograph of Olive and smiled gently. Bucky held her hand gently in his, and despite it being his metal hand he really felt like he could feel her warmth. And that made him happy, if not confusingly so.


	9. Chapter 9

Bucky had been with Rooney for a little longer than a week now. Their days were filled with silence mostly as Bucky watched her collection of videos she had of their time in the war.

"Every camp had a video camera. I was able to hunt down all the existing reels about thirty years ago. The fella, Reginald, didn't know what hit him when I showed up on his doorstep, he recognized me immediately. I told him I was the daughter of Rooney Kessler...he accepted that faster than any army man should have, but I was lucky. I had found hours of additional footage of you, and Steve."

And that was what he'd watch. Occasionally he'd have to shut it off, the memories seemed all too real when they came to him. And they did come, the memories, in small spurts. At night he would write them down in a tan notebook Rooney gave to him. They were scarce but they were solid, he was beginning to remember.

Rooney would watch him with caution from the kitchen, though trying to keep to herself. She knew he had to explore these things for himself, she was just there to push him in the right direction. After several days though she began to notice something that really bothered her. Bucky had only one shirt and one pair of jeans. So she left the next morning for the city, an hour south.

After paying a friend off in the city she got her pick through a few clothing stores. Most things black, grey, and a little bit of red. All normal clothing, nothing too striking or noticeable.

When she returned to her house she found Bucky on the couch with the tv on, the history channel playing. As she approached him she noticed he was not watching it, but she saw that he was staring at his hands. The bags dropped to the floor and Bucky jumped and looked at her.

"Sorry."

"What were you thinking about?" Rooney asked as she unpacked the clothes and set them on the coffee table.

"Nothing." He shook his head, picking through the clothes, "How do you know these will fit me?"

"They'll fit." She smirked, glancing through the bag for anything forgotten. She picked up ball cap from the bottom.

"Yankees?" He questioned, fiddling with the bill of the hat.

"You said you wanted inconspicuous. Nothing blends in more in New York than a Yankees hat." Rooney could have sworn she saw Bucky give her the tiniest smirk.

"Well thank you." He paused and picked up the small black object she just set down. "Cell phone?"

"It's prepaid, untraceable, it-uh, already has my number loaded in." Bucky nodded.

"Good idea." He pocketed the phone. Rooney paused for a moment.

"It's late, I'm tired." Bucky nodded and stood in front of her.

"Thank you again." Rooney nodded nervously and side stepped out of his shadow.

When she got to her bedroom she sucked in a breath.

* * *

Rooney laid on her bed, holding herself. She struggled to keep her eyes closed. She kept tossing back and forth between her back and her side and her stomach until she finally let out a labored breath.

Her throat closed up and she couldn't catch her breath. Tears ran down her face, drenching her cheeks. The tears came faster than she had time to wipe away.

Sitting up, Rooney held herself still.

She had kept up a facade all week around him. A facade that killed her. She was so terrified and so upset she didn't know how to cope. Seeing Bucky before wasn't this bad. She hadn't known he was alive so the initial shock kept her from truly understanding her feelings. Now she had been waiting for this, but she had not been expecting it. Nor had she expected him to remember her. Or anything. She had been waiting for him to kill her.

Rooney had been waiting for the Winter Soldier. And she would not have fought back. She had lived long enough, it was time. But she would only die at his hands, no one else's, not even her own.

She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it from her face.

Suddenly a shadow moved into the room and she jumped.

"Jesus Christ Bucky, you gotta stop doing that."

"I—I'm sorry…" Bucky spoked quietly.

Rooney sucked in a breath and settled down.

"It's fine, you just scared me…" She tried wiping her tears away, lazily. The bed moved next to her and she felt a warmth against her shoulder.

"I heard…I heard you crying…I thought you were…hurt." He laid his gun on the nightstand with a gentle clank.

Rooney sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "It's fine. I'm not hurt."

Bucky looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "But…you are in pain."

She sighed and nodded slowly. Bucky didn't say anything as he moved closer to her. She felt his arm, his real arm, graze hers. And slowly it moved around her shoulders.

"Bucky…" Rooney tried to move but he held her there, and pulled her closer. His hand touched the back of her head and his metal arm pulled her into his chest.

Rooney breathed out and she fell into his chest. She felt so weak and she didn't know why he was holding her, but he was holding her as tight as he could. His head rested on her shoulder as he enveloped her into his body.

"I lied earlier." Rooney looked up at him. "I lied, I remember you. Not you...but I remember trying to kill you. And visiting your hospital room. But I didn't know who you were. I just...I remember all of the people I killed." Rooney clinched her jaw and hugged her arms around his neck. She felt weak but she knew he felt worse, confused. Rooney was not confused, she was just scared. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know how.

"I know you don't remember who I am, very clearly, but we are figuring it out...I'm trying to help you Bucky." He gave her a tight lipped smile and released her. Rooney stood slowly and stepped in front of him. Bucky sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. Rooney looked at him curiously. "What?"

"Rooney, I just...I don't know if I'm worth it." Rooney paused in front of him.

"Buck..." She hesitantly grabbed his hand. "If someone had told me you would be in my house and the reason wasn't to kill me, I would never believe them. But you're here and you're not trying to kill me because you aren't the Winter Soldier." She grabbed his metal hand and squeezed it. For a moment he could almost feel her warmth. "You aren't, Bucky."

"He's still in there, Rooney. I can feel it." Rooney sighed.

"I know...but that's okay. I'd rather you know what's inside of you, than be naive. You're smart Bucky. And you are strong." He nodded, squeezing her fingers in his.

"I'm sorry I made you upset." Rooney looked down, she didn't know what to say for several moments.

"I am less upset, more frustrated...for some reason when I first heard you say my name I had this bubble of hope burst inside of me...I thought...what if things could be like they were, 70 years ago...but I know that it is foolish of me to be, myself, naive."

Bucky was silent for a long time before whispering, "You are not foolish. I remember, if not so vividly, I can feel it inside of me...just like that first time I saw Steve on the bridge. I knew I knew him, I know I had a connection with this person. And I felt that instantly with you, Rooney." She smiled softly.

"It's late, we should both get some rest. I want to try something tomorrow."


End file.
